Constitution of the Learning in Later Life Students’ Association

TITLE

The Association will be known as the Learning in Later Life Students’ Association.
(Short title 3Ls)

AIMS

The aim and function of the 3Ls will be to establish and maintain an association of mature students which will have as its primary concern the furtherance of the educational and social aims of the group of students normally aged 50 and over. In pursuing this aim it will collaborate with the University of Strathclyde (primarily the Centre for Lifelong Learning) and with any other institution or group whose activities the 3Ls considers relevant.

The 3Ls will also participate in activities linked to the University of Strathclyde, its community and its environs in as far as these are seen to be pertinent to the primary concern defined above. The 3Ls is visualised as University of Strathclyde based and will hold its meetings on Campus.

MEMBERSHIP

All past and present students who have attended a class in any of the daytime or other CLL Programmes aimed at the 50+ will be eligible to apply for membership of the Association. The 3Ls will be self-supporting and to this end will charge an annual subscription. The subscription will be determined by the membership at its Annual General Meeting and will be payable annually on or after 1 September each year.

For students who join the 3Ls for the very first time in the Third Term, the annual subscription will cover that short period, and the subsequent 3Ls session, 1st September to 31st August of the following year. Thereafter the subscription requires to be paid annually on or after 1 September each year.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGS

An Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held each spring, which all members will be entitled to attend.

Fifty (50) members will form a quorum.

Six weeks’ notice will be given and the following business will be enacted.

Annual Report by the President

Annual Report presented by the Treasurer to be approved by members present.

Annual subscription to be agreed by majority vote.

Election of Management Council by majority vote

The notice calling the meeting will incorporate an agenda of the items to be discussed and/or the resolution(s) to be put to the meeting. Any amendment to a resolution set out in the agenda for the meeting will be proposed, seconded and submitted to the Secretary not less than 21 days before the date of the Annual General Meeting.

EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETINGS

An Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) may be called by the President on giving 21 days’ notice to all members and the President shall also do so at the request of at least six members.

An EGM shall be called for a specific purpose or purposes stipulated in the notice calling the meeting.

No business apart from that stipulated in the notice calling the EGM shall be transacted. Any resolution put to an EGM must be carried by a majority of those members present and entitled to vote and voting.

Fifty (50) members will form a quorum.

MANAGEMENT

There will be a Management Council elected annually from among the members, consisting of a President, Immediate Past President/Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Social Convener, Convenor of the Council of Clubs and eight other members (which will include the representatives from three Clubs on a rotational basis), as well as two (non-voting) representatives of the University of Strathclyde. The 3Ls Honorary Patron and the 3Ls Honorary President will have a standing invitation to attend Management Council meetings

Nominations for election to the Management Council will be invited six weeks prior to the AGM. Nomination forms will be enclosed with the AGM papers. Nominees must have agreed to nomination and been proposed and seconded.

The Vice President will be elected by the Management Council, having been duly proposed and seconded.

The Management Council will be entitled to co-opt a maximum of two members to serve on the Management Council until the next AGM at which he/she may stand for election as a full Council member.

The Management Council should be so constituted as to have representation in its membership of students currently participating in Learning in Later Life classes.

The Learning in Later Life Students’ Association Clubs (3Ls Clubs) will have representation on the Management Council. Three 3Ls Club representatives will serve for one year, with clubs represented in alphabetical order

There will also be a Patron, appointed for three years, and an Honorary President.

The Council will have the power to appoint honorary members.

All elected members of the Management Council will serve for three years without seeking re-election and thereafter retire for a minimum of one year. At the discretion of the Management Council an elected member may be permitted to stand for re-election for an additional year before having to stand down for a minimum of one year

The exceptions will be the President, who will serve for two years; the Immediate Past President, who will serve one year in that capacity and the Vice President who will serve one year immediately prior to serving as President. In the event of the President being unable to continue in office, the Vice President (if elected) or the Immediate Past President shall assume the duties of President until the next AGM.

The Convenor of the Council of Clubs, having been elected by the members of the Council of Clubs and approved by the Management Council, will be a member of the Management Council and will serve in that position for three years

The Social Convenor will be an elected member of the Management Council and will be elected by the members of the Management Council to serve in that position for three years

The President will be responsible for ensuring the business of the 3Ls is conducted in accordance with the Constitution.

The Secretary will issue notice of and keep an accurate record of all meetings, including the AGM, as well as recording all business transacted.

The Treasurer will be custodian of all monies accruing to the 3Ls and will produce a financial report for the AGM and a resume of the financial position for Management Council and other meetings as requested by the Management Council.

An auditor will be appointed to audit the accounts annually and at any interim period decided by the Management Council.

There should not be less than four Management Council Meetings annually. At each of these meetings, the Agenda will include presentation and discussion of subjects of relevance and immediacy, selected with a view to possible participative action by the 3Ls.

Six elected members present will form a quorum at a meeting of the Management Council.

The President will have a deliberative and casting vote.

3Ls Clubs

Clubs are affiliated to the 3Ls and will normally be formed from classes to further informal learning.

Only members of the 3Ls may apply for membership of any of the affiliated 3Ls Clubs.

Clubs are required to present a list of their current members to the Secretary by 30th November each year

Clubs are required to present an annual balance sheet to the Management Council not later than 15th April each year. In the event of a Club being disbanded any balance of money in the funds will become part of the 3Ls funds.